<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Hireath by WishingStar18</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26050762">Hireath</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/WishingStar18/pseuds/WishingStar18'>WishingStar18</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Blaise Zabini is a Good Friend, Characters Reading Harry Potter Books, F/M, Good Lucius Malfoy, Good Malfoy Family (Harry Potter), Good Regulus Black, Good Slytherins, Harry Potter Has a Twin, Hermione Granger is a Good Friend, Multi, Neville Longbottom is a Good Friend, Regulus Black Deserves Better, Ron Weasley Being an Idiot, Ron Weasley is a Good Friend, sometimes but he is so oblivious</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 10:01:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,373</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26050762</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/WishingStar18/pseuds/WishingStar18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been two years since the battle of Hogwarts and Rosalie Malfoy nee Potter isn't any better. She can't move on. Then suddenly out of nowhere, she finds a way to go back in the past. With the help of Hermione and seven books, she finds a way to save the people that she just can't let go. </p><p> </p><p>All rights go to JK Rowling, I only own Rosalie and my OCs.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Daphne Greengrass/Theodore Nott, Draco Malfoy/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>32</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>May 2, 1998</b>
</p><p>
  <em>"Kill!"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>There was a terrible scream. Rosalie watched as Severus's face lost what little color it had left; it whitened as his onyx eyes widened, as the snake's fangs pierced his neck. As he failed to push the enchanted cage off himself, his knees gave way and he fell to the floor.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Rosalie had to bite her lip to keep from crying out. There was a coppery taste in her mouth and her vision started to become blurry.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I regret it," said Voldemort coldly. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>He turned away; there was no sadness in him, no remorse. Voldemort pointed the wand at the starry cage holding the snake, which drifted off Severus, who fell sideways onto the floor, blood gushing from the wounds in his neck. Voldemort swept from the room without a backward glance and the great serpent floated after him in its huge protective sphere.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Harry! Rose!" breathed Hermione behind them, but Harry had already pointed his wands at the crate blocking our view. It lifted an inch into the air and drifted sideways silently. As quietly as Rosalie could, she pulled herself into the room, hardly noticing the fact that Harry was following her.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Rose didn't know what to feel as she saw Severus's pale face and the fingers trying to staunch the bloody wound at his neck. She threw off the invisibility cloak. She bent down beside him, her godfather, her father figure of 16 years, and Severus seized the front of her robes and pulled her close. He reached up around Rosalie's neck, she barely noticed the cold, light metal chain Severus placed around her neck.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>A terrible rasping, gurgling noise issued from Severus's throat.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Take... it... Take... it..."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Something more than blood was leaking from Severus. Silvery blue, neither gas nor liquid, it gushed from his mouth and his ears and eyes, and Harry knew what it was, but did not know what to do.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>A vial, conjured from thin air, was thrust into Harry's shaking hands by Rosalie. He lifted the silvery substance into it with his wand. When the vial was filled to the brim, and Severus looked as though he had no blood left in him, his grip on my robes slackened. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Look... at... me..." he whispered, "You... have... your... mothers... heart... and... eyes..."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Rosalie's killing curse evergreen eyes found the black, but after a second, something in the depths of the dark seemed to sparkle before vanishing, leaving them fixed, blank, and empty. The hand holding mine thudded to the floor, and Severus moved no more.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Rosalie felt herself scream and the boxes and crates around her burst into flames.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <b>October 30, 2000</b>
</p><p>"Rosalie!" She snapped out of her trance. It's been two years since the Battle of Hogwarts, and two years since they found a way to go back in time and fix things. All they needed was to finish the seven books that could change the fate of the wizarding world.</p><p>Rosalie looked towards that voice, "Hermione, what is it?"</p><p>Hermione just looked at her with a smile on her face. She lifted seven books up and said, "Let's go make everything right."</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Boy Who Lived</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.</b>
</p>
<p>Many people snorted at that.</p>
<p>
  <b>They were the last people you'd expect to be involved with anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.</b>
</p>
<p>"How boring," came the drawling voice of Lucius Malfoy.</p>
<p>
  <b>Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the amount of neck,</b>
</p>
<p>"Well they sound handsome," a 6th year Ravenclaw said dryly.</p>
<p>Lily looked down, " Well, sounds like Tuney hasn't changed much." The marauders tried to stifle their laugh at that comment. Marlean gave her a pitying glance.</p>
<p>
  <b>which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors. The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.</b>
</p>
<p>"I can," came Fred.</p>
<p>"think of 100," George finished.</p>
<p>
  <b>The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it.</b>
</p>
<p>"Oh, do tell, " Bellatrix scooted forward excitedly as did the most of the Slytherins.</p>
<p>
  <b>They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters.</b>
</p>
<p>James jumped up outraged shouting, "We are awesome!"</p>
<p>"No one better!" Sirius jumped up and down with James.</p>
<p>
  <b>Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister,</b>
</p>
<p>Lily looked close to crying because of that.</p>
<p>
  <b>because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish</b>
</p>
<p>Hermione and the Ravenclaws looked outraged, "That's not a word!"</p>
<p>
  <b>as it was possible to be. The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street.</b>
</p>
<p>"I'd be cheering!" Sirius pouted.</p>
<p>A sixth year slytherin sneered at the book, "I wouldn't be near them if you paid me."</p>
<p>
  <b>The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son and daughter, too, but they had never seen them. Those twins were another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with children like that.</b>
</p>
<p>"Children like what" growled Fleamont Potter not liking how these muggles were acting, he didn't know how they were related to his grandchildren but he didn't like what the magic hating muggles were suggesting.</p>
<p>
  <b>When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, grey Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work,</b>
</p>
<p>Fred and George looked like the world was ending, "This is already-"</p>
<p>"-Boring and horrible!"</p>
<p>
  <b>and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair.</b>
</p>
<p>Molly made an aghast face at that. "If any my children ever acted like that!"</p>
<p>Bill and Charlie Weasley who were sitting near their mother scooted closer to their father in fear of their mother's famous temper.</p>
<p>
  <b>None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley goodbye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls. "Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house.</b>
</p>
<p>"He shouldn't be encouraging that!" Andromeda sniffed sourly. Molly nodded vigorously with that statement.</p>
<p>
  <b>He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive. It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar -- a cat reading a map.</b>
</p>
<p>Many glanced at each other confused at that.</p>
<p>
  <b>For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen -- a cat reading a map. Then he jerked his head to look around again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive,</b>
</p>
<p>"Minnie?" Sirius and James turned and glanced at Professor Mcgonagall.</p>
<p>
  <b>but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light. Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back.</b>
</p>
<p>A lot more students were glancing at Professor Mcgonagall now, she shifted uncomfortably at the stares.</p>
<p>
  <b>As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive -- no, looking at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs.</b>
</p>
<p>Remus commented, "Okay that is definitely is the Professor."</p>
<p>"Min-Min!" James and Sirius started jumping up and down like little girls presented with a new princess doll.</p>
<p>
  <b>Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town, he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day.</b>
</p>
<p>Arthur looked excited learning more about muggles, "What are drills?"</p>
<p>Hermione looked at him kindly and announced to the Great Hall, "If anyone has any questions write them down, I'll explain during the breaks."</p>
<p>Many people were diving into their bags</p>
<p>
  <b>But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks.</b>
</p>
<p>"What are so strange about cloaks?" Neville asked Hermione.</p>
<p>Hermione explained patiently and loudly so that everyone could hear, "Muggles haven't worn cloaks in decades."</p>
<p>
  <b>Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes -- the getups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together.</b>
</p>
<p>Everyone glanced at each other curiously.</p>
<p>
  <b>Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak! The nerve of him!</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt -- these people were obviously collecting for something... yes, that would be it. The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills.</b>
</p>
<p>"One track mind that man," Frank Longbottom made a sour face.</p>
<p>
  <b>Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. He didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open- mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead.</b>
</p>
<p>A second year pureblood Slytherin made a confused face, "Why is everyone so surprised?"</p>
<p>"Most muggles have never even seen an owl at night time," Harry answered.</p>
<p>
  <b>Most of them had never seen an owl even at nighttime.</b>
</p>
<p>That made Harry blush slightly.</p>
<p>
  <b>Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more.</b>
</p>
<p>"Likes shouting that walrus," Bellatrix looked bored, "He sounds lovely."</p>
<p>
  <b>He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road</b>
</p>
<p>Harry who was drinking some pumpkin juice, spit it out as he heard that, "He walked?!"</p>
<p>
  <b>to buy himself a bun from the bakery.</b>
</p>
<p>Harry looked like the world was right again.</p>
<p>
  <b>He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This bunch were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard yes, their son, Harry. Their daughter Rosalie too."</b>
</p>
<p>Lucius Malfoy looked at Rosalie, "Why would they be whispering about you guys?"</p>
<p>James jumped up and shouted smugly, "We're famous!"</p>
<p>Lily and Remus looked at him dryly and rolled her eyes.</p>
<p>
  <b>Mr. Dursley stopped dead.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it. He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone, and had almost finished dialling his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his moustache, thinking... no, he was being stupid.</b>
</p>
<p>Harry glanced at Ron and Hermione, "Well at least he was smart enough to figure that out."</p>
<p>
  <b>Potter wasn't such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots of people called Potter, who had a daughter called Rosalie and a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew was called Harry. He'd never even seen the twins. It might've been Harvey. Or Harold. Roselyn or Rosemary.</b>
</p>
<p>Harry groaned at the names, while at the Slytherin table Rosalie was giggling into Draco's shoulder. Draco gave a soft smile at the sound that was vibrating in his ear.</p>
<p>
  <b>There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her -- if he'd had a sister like that...</b>
</p>
<p>Lily gave a watery sniffle. James gave her a comforting hug, unaware that Snape was glaring at him from the other side of the room.</p>
<p>
  <b>but all the same, those people in cloaks...</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door. "Sorry," he grunted,</b>
</p>
<p>"He knows how to say that word?" Harry looked eyes wide at the book.</p>
<p>
  <b>as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passersby stare, "Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!"</b>
</p>
<p>There was a silence in the great hall, some by relief that the war would be over soon and some who were going to take the dark mark or already had it was scared for their own future.</p>
<p>
  <b>And the old man hugged Mr.Dursley around the middle and walked off.</b>
</p>
<p>"How we weren't discovered that day..." Minerva shook her head.</p>
<p>"How did he get his hands around the fat walrus's waist?!" A fifth year Ravenclaw asked with a mix of shock and curiosity.</p>
<p>
  <b>Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination.</b>
</p>
<p>"How can he not approve of such things!?!" The majority of the mothers looked shocked and furious with the 'disgusting muggle.'</p>
<p>
  <b>As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw -- and it didn't improve his mood -- was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes. "Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly. The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look.</b>
</p>
<p>"Min-Min!" James shot a grin at her.</p>
<p>Sirius gave a mischievous smirk,"Mama Lion!"</p>
<p>
  <b>Was this normal cat behaviour? Mr. Dursley wondered.</b>
</p>
<p>Sirius gave Professor McGonagall a wink, "It is Min-Min behavior."</p>
<p>She just gave him an exasperated sigh and an eye roll.</p>
<p>
  <b>Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife.,Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Won't!").</b>
</p>
<p>Mrs. Weasley grimaced at the last sentence but didn't say anything.</p>
<p>
  <b>Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news: "And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed himself a grin.</b>
</p>
<p>Lucius sneered at the book, "He knows something."</p>
<p>
  <b>"Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?" "Well, Ted" said the weatherman,"I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain, I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early -- it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight." Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters...</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. "Er -- Petunia, dear -- you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?"</b>
</p>
<p>A fourth year Gryffindor muttered, "Coward."</p>
<p>
  <b>As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.</b>
</p>
<p>Lily's eyes only slightly watered this time.</p>
<p>
  <b>"No," she said sharply. "Why?"</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls... shooting stars... and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today..."</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"So?" snapped Mrs. Dursley.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"Well, I just thought... maybe... it was something to do with... you know... her crowd."</b>
</p>
<p>Most of the Slytherin looked like he personally insulted them this time, which he kind of did.</p>
<p>
  <b>Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he didn't dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their twins-- they'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't they?"</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"What's their names again? Rosemary and Howard, isn't it?"</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"Harry and Rosalie. Nasty, a Freakish names, if you ask me."</b>
</p>
<p>Draco jumped up furiously, defending his wife, "There's nothing wrong with Rosalie's name!"</p>
<p>Rosalie shushed him, stroking his arm softly and trying to calm him down. Draco was about to open his mouth again when Rosalie gave him a soft smile, soothing his heart. Lucius and Narcissa gave each other a happy smile to see their son so in love.</p>
<p>
  <b>"Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree."</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something. Was he imagining things? Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did... if it got out that they were related to a pair of -- well, he didn't think he could bear it. The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters were involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind.... He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on -- he yawned and turned over -- it couldn't affect them....</b>
</p>
<p>"He jinxed it," a second year Ravenclaw said under his breath.</p>
<p>
  <b>How very wrong, he was.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.</b>
</p>
<p>"I commend your determination Min-Min, for whatever you're waiting for." James and Sirius gave her very grave nods as if she was waiting for a general to give her an order to follow.</p>
<p>
  <b>A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. This man's name was Albus Dumbledore. Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome.</b>
</p>
<p>Harry gave a watery chuckle, "He probably knew, he just didn't care."</p>
<p>Dumbledore just gave him one of his signature looks with that well known twinkle in his eye.</p>
<p>
  <b>He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known."</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it.</b>
</p>
<p>"You really shouldn't smoke professor," Rosalie lectured, "It's bad for you!"</p>
<p>Lily nodded her head, agreeing with her daughter.</p>
<p>
  <b>The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop. He clicked it again -- the next lamp flickered into darkness.Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.</b>
</p>
<p>Half the school looked shocked by this and the other either fell off their chair or just had great poker faces.<br/><b></b><br/><b>"How did you know it was me?" she asked.</b></p>
<p>
  <b>"My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."</b>
  <br/>
  
  <b></b>
  <br/>
  <b>"You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here." Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she said impatiently. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no -- even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls... shooting stars.... Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent -- I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."</b>
</p>
<p>The hall was quiet for a minute and then a voice broke the silence, "Eleven years is quite the long time..." Alice looked down at the floor, biting her lip.</p>
<p>
  <b>"I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumours." She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on. "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore?"</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"</b>
  <br/>
  
  <b></b>
  <br/>
  <b>"A what?"</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of"</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops.</b>
</p>
<p>"It really isn't," Madam Pomphry squinted her eyes at him.</p>
<p>
  <b>"As I say, even if You-Know-Who has gone -"</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You- Know-Who' nonsense -- for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: Voldemort."</b>
</p>
<p>The majority of the hall flinched at the name while the ones who didn't just rolled their eyes or ignored them.</p>
<p>
  <b>Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"I know you haven't", said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know- oh, all right, Voldemort, was frightened of."</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"Only because you're too -- well -- noble to use them."</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls are nothing next to the rumours that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?"</b>
  <br/>
  
  <b></b>
  <br/>
  <b>It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"What they're saying," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumour is that Lily and James Potter are -- are -- that they're -- dead. "</b>
</p>
<p>Rosalie tried to hide a sob into her palm and Harry clenched his fists at the reminder that they were orphans.</p>
<p>
  <b>Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.</b>
  <br/>
  <b>"Lily and James... I can't believe it... I didn't want to believe it... Oh, Albus..."</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know... I know..." he said heavily.</b>
  <br/>
  
  <br/>
  <b>Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry. But -- he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke -- and that's why he's gone.</b>
  <b>"</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Dumbledore nodded glumly.</b>
  <br/>
  
  <br/>
  <b>"It's -- it's true?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done... all the people he's killed... he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding... of all the things to stop him... but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"We can only guess," said Dumbledore. "We may never know."</b>
</p>
<p>Rosalie glared at him with a touch of resentment, <em>I bet you do know.</em></p>
<p>
  <b>Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it.It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places?"</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"I've come to bring Harry to h</b>
  <b>is </b>
  <b>aunt and uncle. They're the only family </b>
  <b>he </b>
  <b>has left now."</b>
</p>
<p>There were shots of protest, a few banging on the table, and a handful of glares in Dumbledore's direction.</p>
<p>It took a while for everyone to calm down, but there was still a little muttering.</p>
<p>
  <b>"You don't mean -- you can't mean the people who live here?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore -- you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son -- I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here! And what of Rosalie! What will become of her. Where will she go, what will happen to her?!"</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter."</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand him! He'll be famous -- a legend -- I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future-- there will be books written about Harry -- every child in our world will know his name!"</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any </b>
  <b>boy's</b>
  <b> head. Famous before </b>
  <b>he </b>
  <b>can walk and talk! Famous for something </b>
  <b>he</b>
  <b> won't even remember! Can you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it? As for Rosalie, she will go to her godfather. She doesn't have the same burden as her brother."</b>
</p>
<p>"You're splitting the twins up?!?!!" Lily looked meteors at this, "Why can't Harry go to his godparents as well?!?"</p>
<p>James just glared at the headmaster. Harry shook his head, "We would've been split up anyways, we have different godfathers and mine was 'out of commission'."</p>
<p>James noted that his son's voice was bitter at the last phrase. Lily's face was still a red as her hair.</p>
<p>
  <b>Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, "Yes -- yes, you're right, of course. But separating the twins, isn't that too much Albus? And how is the boy even getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"Hagrid's bringing them."</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"You think it -- wise -- to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.</b>
</p>
<p>Hagrid's chest puffed up with pride hearing this.</p>
<p>
  <b>"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to -- what was that?" A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky -- and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild - long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?"</b>
  <br/>
  
  <b></b>
  <br/>
  <b>"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me.</b>
</p>
<p>"Yes! I get a motorcycle!" Lily slapped the back of Sirius's head and glared at him.</p>
<p>"Not the time you idiot!"</p>
<p>
  <b>I've got em' sir.</b>
  <b>"</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"No problems, were there?"</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"No, sir -- house was almost destroyed, but I got 'em out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. They fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol."</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy and girl, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over the boy's forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning. The girl had a shockingly blood red hair like flames flickering in the slight wind that night.</b>
</p>
<p>Narcissa cood at the thought of two adorable babies.</p>
<p>
  <b>"Is that where -?" whispered Professor McGonagall.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever."</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"</b>
  <br/>
  
  <b></b>
  <br/>
  <b>"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground. Well -- give him here, Hagrid -- we'd better get this over with. I still need to deliver her to her godfather as well."</b>
  <br/>
  
  <b></b>
  <br/>
  <b>Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward the Dursleys' house.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"Could I -- could I say goodbye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over</b>
  <b> Harry</b>
  <b> and gave her what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.</b>
</p>
<p>Many of the mothers and girls were slightly testy eyed at the paragraph.</p>
<p>
  <b>"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets, and then came back to the other two.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Professor McGonagall turned to Hagrid, "Hand me Rosalie, Hagrid. I'll get her to her godfather."</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I'll be takin' Sirius his bike back. G'night, Professor McGonagall -- Professor Dumbledore, sir. "</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall nodded her head in reply. She popped away in a </b>
  <b>
    <em>crack</em>
  </b>
  <b> with Rosalie in her arms.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four.</b>
  <br/>
  
  <br/>
  <b>"Good luck, Harry," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.</b>
</p>
<p>Molly turned her fury onto the headmaster, "You just left Harry there with nothing! You could've at least done a warming charm for him! He could've died with pneumonia!" She practically spat at him and Lily burned holes into his head with her glared.</p>
<p>Dumbledore cleared his throat looking a little guilty.</p>
<p>
  <b>A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up.</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles,</b>
</p>
<p>Narcissa looked scandalized, " Who screams at the sight of a baby?"</p>
<p>Lucius tried his best to calm his irritated wife down.</p>
<p>
  <b>nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley... He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter -- the boy who lived!"</b>
</p>
<p>"Well that was the end of the chapter!"</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>